Friday, September 30, 2011

Global warming will cause more deaths in summer because of higher temperatures but these will not be offset by fewer deaths in milder winters finds an analysis published online ahead of print in Occupational and Environment Medicine.

The Harvard researchers analysed city-specific weather data related to the deaths of more than 6.5 million people in 50 US cities between 1989 and 2000.
They found that during two-day cold snaps there was a 1.59% increase in deaths because of the extreme temperatures. However, during similar periods of extremely hot weather death rates went up by 5.74%. Deaths did not rise as steeply when temperature fluctuations were less extreme.
Deaths from all causes are known to rise when temperatures go up, andheart attacks and cardiac arrests are more likely when it is very cold. It was anticipated that global warming would increase deaths during hot temperatures but that this would be compensated for by fewer deaths in the winter.
But the authors conclude: ‘Our findings suggest that decreases in cold weather as a result of global warming are unlikely to result in decreases in cold-related mortality in the US. Heat-related mortality, in contrast, may increase, particularly if global warming is associated with increased variance of summer temperature.'

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises).It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature.This hurts many people, animals, and plants.Many cannot take the change, so they die.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is when the temperature rises because the sun’s heat and light is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere.

What is global warming doing to the environment?

Global warming is affecting many parts of the world.Global warming makes the sea rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands.This is a big problem for many of the plants, animals, and people on islands.The water covers the plants and causes some of them to die.When they die, the animals lose a source of food, along with their habitat.Although animals have a better ability to adapt to what happens than plants do, they may die also.When the plants and animals die, people lose two sources of food, plant food and animal food.They may also lose their homes.As a result, they would also have to leave the area or die.This would be called a break in the food chain, or a chain reaction, one thing happening that leads to another and so on.

The oceans are affected by global warming in other ways, as well.

Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and plants.It is killing algae, but it is also destroying many huge forests.The pollution that causes global warming is linked to acid rain.Acid rain gradually destroys almost everything it touches.Global warming is also causing many more fires that wipe out whole forests.This happens because global warming can make the earth very hot.In forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they catch on fire.

What causes global warming?

Many things cause global warming.One thing that causes global warming is electrical pollution.Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others.In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity.Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals.Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum.Many pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air when fossil fuels are burned.

Kid can help stop global warming, too!!

Although adults do many things to help stop global warming, kids can do just as much.Kids can’t do hard things like making a law, but we can do easier things like not watching as much TV.You can listen to your parents when they say, turn off your lights or go play outside.Listening to them and actually trying to help can help you, your environment, and the world.

About a third part of global warming and climate change due to agriculture. Generally it’s recognized that much of the principal gas that produces the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide, comes from agriculture, especially deforestation and biomass burning. Domestic ruminants, forest fires, rice cultivation in wetlands and waste products produce most of the methane in the atmosphere, while conventional tillage and fertilizer use generate a high percentage of nitrous oxides.Together, these agricultural processes are the 54% of methane emissions, approximately 80% of nitrous oxide emissions, and virtually all carbon dioxide emissions linked to land use. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), agriculture is among the 3 main causes of the greenhouse effect observed over the last 250 years.

This has been the warmest decade since 1880. In 2010, global surface temperatures tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists say that the earth could warm by an additional 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. This rise in average temperature will have far-reaching effects on the earth's climate patterns and on all living things. Many of these changes have already begun.

The Consequences of Global Warming
On Weather Patterns

Higher temperatures could lead to increased droughts and wildfires, heavier rainfall and a greater number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes.

More Powerful and Dangerous Hurricanes
Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them stronger and potentially more destructive. Even with storms of the same intensity, future hurricanes will cause more damage as higher sea levels exacerbate storm surges, flooding, and erosion.

Warning signs today:

The number of category 4 and 5 storms has greatly increased over the past 35 years, along with ocean temperature.

Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history and caused economic losses in the order of $125 billion.

Drought and Wildfire
Warmer temperatures could increase the probability of drought. Greater evaporation, particularly during summer and fall, could exacerbate drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires.

Warning signs today:

The 1999-2002 national drought was one of the three most extensive droughts in the last 40 years.

Warming may have lead to the increased drought frequency that the West has experienced over the last 30 years.

The 2006 wildland fire season set new records in both the number of reported fires as well as acres burned. Close to 100,000 fires were reported and nearly 10 million acres burned, 125 percent above the 10-year average.

Air pollution may be defined as the presence in the air (outdoor atmosphere) of one or more contaminants or combinations thereof in such quantities and of such durations as may be or tend to be injurious to human, animal or plant life, or property, or which unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property or conduct of business.

It is a substance or effect dwelling temporarily or permanently in the air , which adversely alters the environment by interfering with the health, the comfort, or the food chain, or by interfering with the property values of people.

A pollutant can be solid (large or sub-molecular), liquid or gas .

It may originate from a natural or anthropogenic source (or both).

It is estimated that anthropogenic sources have changed the composition of global air by less than 0.01%.

However, it is widely accepted that even a small change can have a significant adverse effect on the climate, ecosystem and species on the planet.

Examples of these are acid rain, ozone in the lower atmosphere, and photochemical smog.

Air pollution is responsible for major health effects. Every year, the health of countless people is ruined or endangered by air pollution.

Many different chemicals in the air affect the human body in negative ways. Just how sick people will get depends on what chemicals they are exposed to, in what concentrations, and for how long.

Studies have estimated that the number of people killed annually in the US alone could be over 50,000.

Older people are highly vulnerable to diseases induced by air pollution. Those with heart or lung disorders are under additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious risk.

Because people are exposed to so many potentially dangerous pollutants, it is often hard to know exactly which pollutants are responsible for causing sickness. Also, because a mixture of different pollutants can intensify sickness, it is often difficult to isolate those pollutants that are at fault.

Many diseases could be caused by air pollution without their becoming apparent for a long time. Diseases such as bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart disease may all eventually appear in people exposed to air pollution.

Air pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide also have harmful effects on naturalecosystems. They can kill plants and trees by destroying their leaves, and can kill animals, especially fish in highly polluted rivers.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

I like this book because the author is very descriptive in all the scenaries where Peter Camenzid lived.It is about a German boy who lives in a small town of Germany. No one from that place has gone to the university before and he wanted to be the first one. He went out of his home and started to write for a newspaper in order to pay his apartment and school.He was very smart so that he finished earlier than everybody, then he wrote a book that was strongly criticised. After that he started to drink and became an alcohol addict, he loses everything that he had achived and the worst thing was that he didn't find real love.Then he made a friend that had polio and decided he had to help him to live in a better way.His parents died and also his friend and at the end he returned to his village to get old.What I like about this book is the message that the author wanted to give us, it is not good to be alone and any time is a good time to keep learning. I can't put down this book.